Blue linckia starfish

[DSPENCE]

The Fromia are much more hardy that Linkia and they are more apt to stay out on the rock work and glass during the day. They're also small enough that they don't knock coral over. As others have said, buy from a LFS that has had them in for a while, knows how to acclimate them and SLOW acclimation to your tank. I got a black tipped Red Fromia from Triton Marine Aquaculture, in Ohio, for $19.99 and it's done great. One thing that I've read on them, aside from the feeding on slime algae, is that they need a specific gravity of 1.025-1.026 for long term survival.

If you're going to try a Linkia, make sure that there are NO lesions or lighten areas on it. Also make sure that it isn't soft or droopy and that it readily grabs the glass with all of the legs. They tend to be nocturnal so being out in the daytime can also be a sign of poor health.

 

[FarmerTy]

Slow acclimation is pivotal and I've observed my blue linkia enjoys rotted/dead snail flesh and uneaten food. I've had him about 2 years now. I've never observed him eating sponges in my system or asterina stars but that doesn't mean he might not eat them.

He's snacking on one right now in fact.

 

[Jenz]

Oops - I missed a rotation in MY SPIN ON BLUE LINKIAS...

Twenty odd years ago I knew a guy who had a part time marine specimen importing business. (Meet a shipment at the airport on Sunday night and stay up late acclimating. Catch up on sleep on Monday night. Fax availability lists to customers on Tuesday night. Make deliveries the following nights.) Anyway, Frank had a load of tanks set-up in his basement.

One of those tanks got a few hours of direct morning sun. As a result, it had a large clump of hair algae in an upper back corner. A Blue Linkia moved into the clump and lived there for five years. (The Linkia was still there when Frank moved to Florida and broke down the system.)

I don't know how to interpret this data. Do Linkias eat hair algae, or maybe other algaes? Do they eat copepods in the hair algae? Do they eat copepod eggs in the hair algae? Do they capture mysids? Can they directly metabolize sunlight? Your guess is as good as mine.

Kind of makes me want to set up an algae scrubber and suspend the loaded algae screen in my tank, as opposed to just cleaning the screen and recycling it...

In light of what you're saying, in your opinion would a well established Refugium be suitable for a Linkia if appropriate size?

 

[DalPal25]

Added this guy to my tank a little over 3 weeks ago. Can't agree enough on the slow drip acclimation. Mine was 5 hours. So far he's eating algae on the glass and back wall. Have only seen him on the sand bed or rock twice in all that time. Here's a link to my thread on him...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/adventures-in-starfishing.255063/

I actually subscribed to that thread while it was ongoing! Hahaha I found it very helpful and interesting, thank you

 

[FarmerTy]

Slow acclimation is pivotal and I've observed my blue linkia enjoys rotted/dead snail flesh and uneaten food. I've had him about 2 years now. I've never observed him eating sponges in my system or asterina stars but that doesn't mean he might not eat them.

He's snacking on one right now in fact.

Sorry, last sentence was referring to it snacking on a dead snail in the picture. The sentence read wrong to me the 2nd time through.

Here's another picture of it devouring rotting mysis/pellets in my fish trap. It appears to appreciate rotting/decaying organic matter.

 

[DalPal25]

Sorry, last sentence was referring to it snacking on a dead snail in the picture. The sentence read wrong to me the 2nd time through.

Here's another picture of it devouring rotting mysis/pellets in my fish trap. It appears to appreciate rotting/decaying organic matter.

How long had you had your tank setup before you added him to it?

 

[FarmerTy]

About a year roughly, though 60% of my rocks came from my established 125-gallon prior to that.

 

[Tahoe61]

Red Formia

 

[Gr8gorilla]

I recently purchased a Blue Linckia from my LFS. I added him to my tank which is 90 gallons with ~90 lbs of rock. I've been having an algal/Cyanobacteria bloom.

I acclimated the guy for several hours, I'd say between 3-4. I added him to the tank careful not to expose him to air.

He has sat there in the same spot for several days. Today I decided to see if he would take any pellets. He is laying on a patch of greenish brown algae on the sand. I laid a little pinch of pellets next to him and then moved him over top of the pellets.

When I moved him, there was a clean white outline of the star in the sand where he apparently ate the algae/slime he was laying on. Not sure how else it would get clean with him laying on it like that.

 

[radiata]

Slow acclimation is pivotal and I've observed my blue linkia enjoys rotted/dead snail flesh and uneaten food. I've had him about 2 years now. I've never observed him eating sponges in my system or asterina stars but that doesn't mean he might not eat them.

He's snacking on one right now in fact.

Do you find it necessary to kill the snails to keep the star fed?